“PHOBOS - SOIL”

Phobos Sample Return Mission

1. goals, methods of studyA.Zakharov, zakharov@iki.rssi.ru

Russian academy of sciences

Russian aviation and space agency

Goals of the Mission

• Phobos regolith sample return,• Phobos in situ study,• Mars and Phobos remote sensing.

Mars system science:– Phobos investigation (regolith, origin and evolution of the

Martian moons),– Martian environment conditions (dust, plasma, radiation),– Monitoring of the Martian atmosphere and surface global

dynamics.

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Scientific objections

• study physical and chemical characteristics of Phobos regolith and subsurface layers in situ and under laboratory conditions - these data can provide information on properties of primordial matter of the Solar system;

• study of the role played by asteroidal impacts in the formation of terrestrial planets, in the evolution of their atmospheres, crusts, and inventories of volotiles;

• study of the origin of the Martian satellites and their relation to Mars - these data can help in our understanding of their evolution and the origin of satellite systems near other planets;

• search of possible life or paleolife;• study of peculiarities of orbital and proper motion of Phobos, what is important for

understanding their origin, internal structure, celestial mechanics applications; • study physical conditions of the Martian environment (dust, gas, plasma components)

what is important to study of treatment processes of small body regolith under influence of external conditions and creation of engineering model of the Martian environment for future Martian missions;

• Monitoring of dynamic of the Martian atmosphere and seasons climate changing.

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Methods of investigation

1. Delivery of sample of the matter at the Earth. With a returned sample it would be possible to address the following topics:

–absolute dating, the length of formatting interval and the subsequent evolution; –precise identification of primitive material, its chemical composition;–origin of Phobos / Deimos and their relation to Mars;–search of organic material.

2. In-situ study. Measurements on Phobos`s surface will provide the opportunity to establish a ground truth data need for validation and interpretation of remote sensing and to do a detailed, in situ study of regolith samples, specifically their:

–elemental and mineral composition, volatile content;–microscopic structure, physical and mechanical properties of the regolith; –celestial mechanic and fundamental physics experiments;–long duration monitoring of Mars.

3. Remote sensing: Remote sensing of Phobos from co-orbiting spacecraft will provide global coverage of data related to both the surface and internal structure of the satellite, will provide an opportunity to relate data returned from the landing site to the all Phobos`s surface:

–global geologic mapping,–size, shape, mass, bulk density,–color, albedo, photometric scattering and thermal properties,–mapping of global elemental and mineral composition,–internal structure,–landing site certification and selection,–The Martian environment (dust tori, solar wind - Phobos`s surface interaction).

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MAIN CHARACTERISTICS OF THE MISSION

Launch vehicle……………………………………………………Soyuz-2

Launch date………………………………………………. September 7-29, 2009

Flight duration (to Mars)……..……………………….…….. 280-350 days

Launch date from Phobos………………………………13.07-12 August 2011

Duration of near-Mars operation time…..…………..not more than 365 days

Flight duration (from Mars)………………………………..….295-320 days

Date of arrival to Earth……………………………………….14.05-8 June 2012

Total duration of the mission…………………………….……1005 days

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MISSION PROFILE

BABAKIN SCIENCE AND RESEARCH SPACE CENTER

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The Lavochkin / Babakin space association design

Payload zone

Payload zone

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The Lavochkin / Babakin space association design

SC CONFIGURATION (on the Phobos surface)

Return vehicle

Solar array

Landing gear

HGA

Soil sampling device

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The Lavochkin / Babakin space association design

Strawman Payload

Instrument

- TV-system- Chromatomass-spectrometer- Manipulator with instruments- Gamma-spectrometer- Neutron spectrometer- Mass-spectrometer- Seismometer- Long-waves radar- Optical Spectrometer- Dust counter- Plasma spectr.+magnetom.- Solar sensor- Precise transmitter

Index

TVSChSMPLGSPNSPMSSSSMLWRAOSDUCPLMSSRPTR

In situ

+++++++++++++

In orbit

+--+++-++++++

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Current status

The PHOBOS-GRUNT project is the only national planetary project in the current decade.

The Lavochkin / Babakin space association is the main contractor of the spacecraft. Mass of the payload is 50 kg. The project has the resources to include additional payload with a mass about 120 kg. This mass margin could be used for including additional element(s) for the investigation of Mars (i.e. small station on the surface, balloon, penetrators, etc.) or a probe for the study of Deimos.

About 30 proposals for scientific experiments have been received for the project from Russian scientific teams. The next step is a preselected search of proposed experiments for the mission from scientific and technical point of view.

PHOBOS - SOIL